The most obvious things I noticed through out See through words by Micheal Erard was home much I did not understand his metaphors. For example, it took me two more pages of reading to actually kind of get the paint brush to pump metaphor. There were a few points Erard would use a metaphor and it would go straight over my head. This led to, I believe, a lack of understanding on his general ideas. It made the point about somethings need to be spelled out for strong though. However I still don’t understand what the purpose of talking about “paintbrush as pump” was about, or the metaphors about “an apt metaphor.” Even when explained, I still don’t understand it. This all culminates to the statement, “I feel like I can’t find the window.”
Another major thing I noticed was how Erard kind of strips away anything fun about metaphors. It makes sense because he is a metaphor designer which is basically a marketer, at least in my opinion. To me, it kind of sounded like was belittling how Dante or Rilke came up with their metaphors. I understand that metaphors are designed, but that’s isn’t exactly the thought of a writer or poet. They think of the best way to relate what they think to the people reading. Is there some design involved in doing that? Of course there is. However what I’m positing is that the goal is to paint a picture, not to target people for other reasons. This is just from the beginning, and the rest of what Erard had to say aligned with my above criticisms. He explored the powers metaphors have and the dangers that presents. I didn’t know that’s where he was going on page one.
Apologies for the poor print job
When you write, “This all culminates to the statement, “I feel like I can’t find the window,” I can’t help but think you DID find the window! At least you found the window for the window metaphor. 🙂
I really like what you have to say about Rilke and Dante. You present such a nuanced take on these writers’ unknowable intentions, although, I think it’s fair to say that these men were fairly interested in communicating ideas, as well.
Keep up the wonderful work. Use this tutorial to upload future images: https://uneportfolio.org/adding-pictures-to-eportfolio/. I love how you integrated the pages into your text. It’s just difficult for me to enlarge them.